SHARES STRONGLY UP/DOWN this week 12/12/05 (Master RSI)

company news....

UK smallcap opening - Whittard up on agreed 90 pence cash offer from Java

LONDON (AFX) - Whittard of Chelsea climbed 4-3/4 pence to 89-3/4 as Java Acquisitions, a unit of Barney Holdings, made an agreed 21.5 mln stg, or 90 pence a share, cash offer.

Barney Holdings is the holding company for Julian Graves, a UK speciality food retailer with over 260 stores in the UK and Ireland, selling products including nuts, seeds, dried fruit, nostalgic sweets, baking ingredients, luxury snacks and fruit and nut mixes. Barney Holdings majority shareholder is Baugur Group.
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UK smallcap opening - Zambezi Resources up on uranium anomaly find

LONDON (AFX) - Buyers came for Zambezi Resources, 1 firmer at 12-1/4, after the Zambian focused copper and gold exploration company disclosed the identification of an extensive uranium anomaly within the Chumbwe project area, approximately 65 km east of Lusaka.
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UK smallcap opening - Ottakar's drops on cautious trading update

LONDON (AFX) - Shares in specialist bookseller Ottakar's dropped 13 pence to 352 after the company cautioned that trading so far in the second half has been challenging.

It said although the group has taken steps to cut costs, it is too early to predict the likely result for the full year.

The group reported a fall in like for like sales of 3.4 pct over the 45 week period to Dec 10 but noted the decline was a sharper 6.7 pct in the more recent 19 week period to the same date.